Pusha T recently promised to deliver the best hip hop album of the year. With over a decade’s worth of d-boy/rap experience on his resume, Kanye West as the battery in his back, and My Name Is My Name cued up for release, can the gritty lyricist prove he’s cooked up something to join the elite ranks of his more mainstream peers? October 8th cometh: all eyes are on King Push.

Pusha’s not afraid of you, Aubrey. Instead of being concerned that Drake’s third-album buzz might diminish the impact of his My Name Is My Name solo debut on October 8, Pusha T welcomes the competition.

Alongside his brother Pusha T, Gene “No Malice” Thornton embodied coke rap in its most glorious articulation. Together as Clipse, both MCs approached their rhymes like surgeons on the operating table, but now that No Malice has gone solo and turned to Christianity for his subject matter, we’d be remiss to not ask ourselves: What happened to that boy?

Chatter in the hip hop world has been consistent surrounding Kendrick Lamar since Monday night when Big Sean dropped uncleared Hall of Fame song “Control” featuring the Compton rapper and Jay Electronica. Not only did Kendrick refer to himself as the “king of New York” in his dense verse, but he also listed out a slew of rappers by name who he considers his peers. But what about the artists he left off?

We’re not over how disappointing Cruel Summer was. Imagine our relief when Common squashed all the rumors of a G.O.O.D. Music Cruel Winter album in the works. In theory a collective project of G.O.O.D. Music’s finest–Big Sean, Pusha T, Teyana Taylor and 2 Chainz–sounded marvelous. And it bares mentioning Kanye West has yet to create a less than stellar album in the nine years since his first debut. Unfortunately Cruel Summer was mostly forgettable. You played it over and over hoping it’d get better. It never did. Read more…

Contrary to popular belief, the music most celebrated on the charts isn’t always the best. Okay, that was sarcasm. But even artists with hits on the charts have a slew of singles that fall by the wayside. Not every album is a Katy Perry string of #1s. Thus, here is a list of artists whose albums were certainly recognized, but had singles that didn’t quite get the attention they deserved.

Rye Rye’s delayed and delayed album Go! Pop! Bang! finally came out in May of this year–and is really fantastic. An upbeat, eletro-pop banger that not only samples the Vengaboys‘ “Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom”, but also elevates Rye Rye’s signature sound. Unfortunately, it didn’t do so well on the charts, only hitting #9 on Dance Songs.

Can’t wait until Tuesday to hear all that new G.O.O.D. Music? Check out a preview now below or via iTunes. First up? The biggest R. Kelly hook calling on you to put your middle finger up. Okay! Until Tuesday, we leave you with that typically climactic, middle finger-flicking R.Kelly hook on the opening track, “To the World.” Read more…